In 2007 Rebecca Goss's newborn daughter Ella was diagnosed with Severe Ebstein's Anomaly, a rare and incurable heart condition. She lived for sixteen months. Her Birth is a book-length sequence of poems beginning with Ella's birth, her short life and her death, and ending with the joys and complexities that come with the birth of another child. Goss navigates the difficult territory of grief and loss in poems that are spare, tender and haunting: 'Going home, back down / the river road, will be a foreign route without her'.

    Mrs Goss was delighted with the win. She said: 'I grew up in Suffolk and returned to live here earlier this year. I couldn't ask for a better welcome home gift. Her Birth is about the death of my young daughter Ella in 2008.'

    'Some poems from the book are set in Suffolk. Ella's ashes are scattered on the Suffolk coast, so winning something in this particular award means a lot to me and my family.'

    Category judge Michael Mackmin, Aylsham-based editor of poetry magazine The Rialto, said: 'I read the book from cover to cover in one go and couldn't keep back the tears, It's the story of the brief life of her firstborn, who had an incurable heart disease. "I scoop her from her metal cot and rest / her broken heart on mine."'

    'A raw story told with great clarity and one that eventually takes in the birth of a second child, who lives. Rebecca has terrific self-awareness too- watch out when you get to the poem 'Bench'."